Itanagar, An organisation of the Adi Community has sought an inquiry by a sitting judge into the “unprovoked police crackdown on peaceful protesters” at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district on October 23, warning of a democratic movement if no action is taken within 14 days.
In a letter submitted to Governor K T Parnaik, the Pasighat-based Adi Baane Kebang United also sought stringent action against the police personnel and the magistrate on duty during the incident at Raneghat Tinali, on the outskirts of Pasighat, which triggered subsequent arson and vandalism in the town. Video clippings of the incident and the threatening audio message have been submitted to the Lok Bhavan as evidence. The East Siang shutdown was withdrawn due to apprehensions of violence following the circulation of a threatening voice message on social media, warning shopkeepers against opening their establishments, while the shutdown in the other two districts concluded peacefully at 5 pm, the letter said.
The ABKU condemned the subsequent vandalism, in which agitated youths damaged the NHPC office, a police station, and the residences of two MLAs, but said it was a direct fallout of the panic and anger caused by the police action.
